


Should Have Been

by shopfront



Category: Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Daemons, Cats, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Daemons, Family, First Meetings, Friendship, Gen, Missions Gone Wrong, Night, Pre-Canon, Slice of Life, Team, Trick or Treat: Chocolate Box, Trick or Treat: Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-19 01:27:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12400254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shopfront/pseuds/shopfront
Summary: Kate didn't think much of it when she was hired to play courier for the Sanctuary. She went where the money was. The Sanctuary, at least, meant relatively easy money. It should have been simple: pick up, drop off, get the cash, forget about it.Instead she runs late after the day from hell, and they're still around when an Abnormal wanders by. One that causes some memorable and unusual side effects.(AU: Ashley and Kate end up with daemons, and Kate joins the team earlier)





	Should Have Been

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tielan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tielan/gifts).



“Hey, I’m heading east for a bit,” Ashley said as she stuck her head into Henry’s lab.

“Sure thing, buckaroo. Oh, hey, wait! Does your Mom know?”

“What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”

Henry frowned at Ashley and then shook his head when she sighed.

“Alright, fine," she huffed. "Just pretend you didn’t see me or something. Sue me for doing the responsible thing and letting someone know I was leaving, jeez.”

“I’m not- I shouldn't-,” Henry called after her departing back. “I don’t feel entirely comfortable being used as an accessory like this!”

Ashley waved him off over her shoulder without looking back. “Yeah, yeah, whatever,” she muttered to herself and picked up the pace. Best not be caught by anyone before she made it out the front door, at least.

*

Ashley was cold and cranky by the time her new supplier finally showed. She leant back against her bike and crossed her arms as the woman got out of her car and slammed the door.

“You’re late.” Ashley held up her watch for evidence and tapped pointedly on the face with one finger. “If that's a thing you like to do regularly then I expect to be allowed to pick a more comfortable meeting place in the future. Or at least a time when there's oh, I don't know, some sunlight to stop me from freezing my ass off.”

“Sorry,” the woman said, but she didn’t look it. Then she shrugged. “Stuff happened. My name’s Kate.”

“Nice to meet you, too, Kate,” Ashley said with a frown. “I’m Ashley.”

“They told me. Here’s your merchandise." Kate frowned back as she spoke but still swung a bag up onto the hood of her car without hesitating and pulled the zip fast enough to make it sing. “I assume you have the cash on you?”

“Yup,” Ashley replied. She popped the end of the word for emphasis and then smirked when Kate rolled her eyes. “Well, looks like it’s all here,” she said after a quick poke through the bag's contents.

“Of course it’s all there. I don’t rip people off.” Kate seemed affronted by the insinuation, but was visibly distracted from it when Ashley produced a thick envelope from the inside pocket of her jacket. “Pleasure doing business with you,” she said, one side of her mouth quirking up into a grin as she reached for the envelope.

But before their hands could meet a scuttling noise came from the end of the alley.

“What was-” they both said at the same time, then stopped and glanced uneasily at each other as they heard themselves echoed.

“Is that...,” Kate said, stepping around the side of the car and peering into the gloom. She could make out the glint of claws or, no, was that a slithering noise? Then a glowing light started to gather in the shadows.

“Oh no,” Ashley said, eyes going wide. “Oh, no, no, no. Get down!”

But before they could, there was a bright flash and a wave of sound that blew them off their feet. The last thing they both knew, the dark alley was growing darker still and then everything went black.

*

Kate heard someone groan. A moment later she realised it had been her own voice, and then she groaned again and rolled over to lever herself up into a sitting position. Ashley was stirring nearby, but the alley was otherwise empty once more.

“What the hell was that?” she asked, holding a hand against her head and dry heaving as she attempted and promptly failed to stand.

“Probably a self-defence mechanism. Try not to move too much,” Ashley said, still curled on her side on the ground. One hand was patting around at her pockets, while she pinched the bridge of her nose with the other. “Oh, thank god,” she finally said, and fished her phone out of her jeans. “I thought I’d landed on it or dropped it or something.”

Kate just watched her blearily. “Sure thing, doc. What are you-“

But Ashley already had the phone dialled and held against the side of her head that wasn’t still cushioned by asphalt. “Hello? Henry? Can you track this call?” she asked, and then went quiet listening to the response. 

Kate was just about to ask who the hell Henry was, when Ashley groaned in protest. 

“Henry, Henry stop. Calm down. Just get Mom for me. I’m okay, it’s nothing serious, but I’m kinda hurt and there’s something weird crawling around out here. We need backup.”

Rolling her eyes, Kate tuned the conversation back out and started half crawling, half dragging herself toward her car. It was barely more than a metre away, but by the time she reached it she was panting hard and her stomach kept twisting itself in knots with each movement. Huffing, she turned herself around and then collapsed with her back propped up against the wheel and sighed.

Not everybody was happy to remain lying on filthy city streets.

She could still see Ashley from her new position, or at least the top half of her. Her phone call didn’t seem to be going very well. Every few sentences she’d wave her hands around and then wince and go very still again. Rolling her eyes again despite the pain it caused, Kate shifted a little to get more comfortable and then let her head fall back against the car with a thunk. At least she was playing courier for the Sanctuary today. Whatever the hell that thing had been, they’d probably patch her up before sending her on her way. Do gooders.

Idly, she noted a small movement on the roof above her as she waited. Ashley’s voice kept rising and falling in pitch, and seemed to be repeating the word ‘Mom’ a lot. Chuckling, Kate shook her head.

Whatever it was, it moved again.

Frowning, Kate looked closer - and then watched as a spotted cat emerged from the shadows. It stood for a moment on the edge of the roof and stared back at her, a dark outline against the light pollution of the city, and then it delicately started picking its way down.

“Hey there,” she said softly once it reached street level. It stopped and sat back on its haunches, watching her. “Look at you,” she continued, keeping her voice low and constant as she held out a hand. “Here, kitty, kitty.”

It almost seemed to sniff distainfully at her words. But it began a slow, careful progress through the debris accumulated along the sides of the alley until it reached the curb. Then it hopped down into the street, and walked over to stop just outside the reach of Kate’s hand.

“Are you seriously trying to pet a feral cat right now?” Ashley’s voice floated over, incredulous. Apparently her phone call had finally finished.

“He doesn’t look too feral to me,” Kate said, not bothering to look over at her. He didn’t, either. His fur was thick and he looked sturdy and strong, not like most of the cats roaming the back streets.

“How do you know it’s a he?” Ashley asked, and then her words were quickly followed by a groan. Kate could see movement in her periphery, but she couldn’t bring herself to look away from the cat - the cat which still wouldn’t approach any further but also didn’t spook as Ashley loudly struggled her way into an upright position as well.

“I don’t know,” Kate said quietly, brow furrowed. “It just seems right.”

Ashley grimaced and opened her mouth, and Kate braced herself for a cutting remark. But it never came. Instead Ashley yelped and ducked as bird suddenly dropped out of the sky toward her. Gaping, Kate could only watch as one moment Ashley was being swooped while she held out her arms in front of her face instinctively to protect it - and the next a bird of prey was flapping its wings as it settled on her outstretched forearm.

Ashley blinked, and dropped her other hand a little to peer at the bird. It ruffled its feathers and shifted slightly.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Kate said slowly. Ashley just stared at the bird, and then at Kate, and then back at the bird again. “Is that-”

“A falcon?” Ashley finished the question, tensing as she spoke and then relaxing minutely when the bird didn’t seem too alarmed by the noise. “Or a merlin? No. A falcon. I think.”

Kate blinked, and then slowly turned her gaze back on the cat still sitting by her legs and staring at her. “What the actual hell is going on?”

*

“A peregrine falcon, to be precise,” Helen Magnus confirmed not too long after she arrived, looking pensively between Kate and Ashley, “and I’m starting to think that cat might actually be an Asiatic Wildcat of all things. It's not your standard city moggy, that’s for sure.”

Ashley was still sitting stock still with the bird perched on her, though her arm had started shaking from the weight and slowly sunk to rest against her thigh long before anyone arrived to help. The bird still seemed entirely unbothered by what was happening around it, though it had spread its wings and screeched briefly when Helen had first attempted to approach it. She had quickly retreated and now crouched slightly above and behind Ashley so that she was in reach of her daughter but partially blocked from the bird. Once she’d done that, it had settled down again.

“This is so cool,” the short guy muttered, grinning from ear to ear. Kate assumed he was the Henry from Ashley's phone call. Then as she watched his face shifted rapidly through a series of complicated expressions before it settled on vague alarm as Helen turned an unimpressed look on him. “I’ll go grab that first aid kit you wanted, right, yup. Going. Right now.”

“Don’t blame Henry,” Ashley said, watching him duck back into the Sanctuary van and then craning her head around to make eye contact with her mother. “I told him not to say anything.”

“I’m blaming both of you, thank you very much,” Helen said with an arched brow as she accepted the first aid kit and withdrew a wipe that she dabbed against a scratch on Ashley's neck. “You knew very well that there’s been increased Abnormal activity in Old City over the last few weeks. This situation is exactly why nobody is meant to go out alone right now.”

Kate smirked.

“But-“

“No ‘buts’, Ashley,” Helen said sternly, and she subsided again. 

“Fine,” she said sulkily, as Helen snapped the lid back on the first aid kit and handed it back to Henry. 

“What?” he spluttered as he accepted it back. “But you barely even-“

“Thank you, Henry,” was all Helen said pointedly, and he ducked his head and shuffled his feet for a moment before turning back towards the van. “Well then, we just need to figure out a way to get both of you and both of these animals into the van without unduly alarming anyone.”

“I’ve got plenty of bag and tag stuff in here,” Henry called, poking his head back out of the van with an excited bounce.

“I think maybe if I just stand up and carry this one,” Ashley started cautiously. “I know, I know, I don’t have any protective gear for him to hang on to, I heard you. But he hasn’t so much as scratched me once with those great big talons he’s got.”

Kate worked her way to her feet with a grunt by leaning on the car, and watched as the cat stood as well and started following. “Hey, guys? I don’t think we need to bag and tag anything.”

“How fascinating,” Helen said, standing as well and offering a hand to Ashley to help her balance against the weight of her passenger. “The light is too dim to be sure from here but the more I watch it move, the more sure I am that it’s not a domesticated breed. But that would mean it shouldn’t be following anyone anywhere.”

Kate just shrugged and hobbled toward the van’s open back doors. Once she was close, the cat ran around her feet and jumped up into the van, perching near the doors and closely watching her progress.

“Don’t complain if it's easy,” she muttered, and let Helen walk over and give her a hand up inside. Once she was settled with her new little friend curled protectively around her feet, she fished a set of keys out of her pocket. “Be careful with my baby,” she said, frowning at Henry when he appeared beside them with his hand outstretched. “I’m serious!”

“Right, yes, absolutely,” he said, trying and failing to smother his grin. “I will take excellent care of her. Scouts honour.”

Kate quirked an eyebrow at him. “You were a Scout?” she asked, and he shrugged and snatched the keys from her hand and disappeared.

Helen just chuckled and closed the doors. Kate settled back in her seat with a sigh and rubbed at her temples as she listened to Ashley complain about being fussed over as she was assisted likewise up into the passenger seat up front.

Helpful do gooders or not, all this talking was giving her a headache.

The cat - wildcat, whatever - just curled up closer around her ankle and she felt a rumbling purr start to vibrate through her shoe as Helen hopped in and turned the key.

*

“Hey!” Kate called across the weaponry room. “Not true. You love my dodgy contacts!”

Ashley emerged from behind a rack of kevlar and smirked. “Not when they’re _this_ dodgy.”

Kate made a disgusted noise and continued gearing up. Once she put the comm on, she heard an equally disgusted noise in her ear. “Seriously, you do realise I can hear you both, right?” Henry said, his voice crackling a little over the tinny speaker. “I made the receivers in those babies strong. So maybe try stopping the macho woman competition for just five seconds while we finish setting up, for the love of God.”

“Mr. 'I’m going to spend an hour and a half on stake out talking incessantly about my new networking tech' doesn’t get to complain while eavesdropping on our conversations,” Ashley said, holstering her gun and turning to smirk at Kate as Branimir flew over and settled on her shoulder. “Ready?”

“Ready,” Kate said. Then she smiled as Abhidare wound himself around her ankles briefly before racing for the door.

**Author's Note:**

> It was such a pleasure to write one of my favourite smaller(ish) fandoms, so thank you for some lovely prompts! I like to think this happened in canon, except Kate was on time and so the event faded into insignificance. 
> 
> I imagine this could ripple out into Kate/Will because she's there when he first shows up, perhaps an Ashley survives AU (hard to strip away her humanity and autonomy when her soul is made flesh and running around after all!), lots of bantering missions and geeking out over weapons for these two, and also lots of Kate getting happiness and friendships earlier than she did in canon. I only wish I had the time for thousands more words to write that all out for you. But I hope what I set up here was enjoyable enough on its own! Happy Trick or Treat!


End file.
